Column: Life’s Lessons - Part 3

Here is the third, and final, column of significant lessons that have impacted my life.

The daily challenge of making choices, and living with them, has been as critical to my quality of life as any other single factor. Like you, I suspect, I have made some superior choices during the years and some I wish I hadn’t. I live with both kinds.

One of the great challenges of life is how we cope with the issue of control. In relationships, it is a major issue. Maintaining control of my life and coping with my personality, which is very resistant to persons with controlling personalities, has been a struggle of considerable consequence.

I must work hard to find the good in the world, and I regret that I must do so. Idealism is still my preferred attitudinal choice, but sustaining this complex and often burdensome perspective is a demanding challenge. I take heart in Dr. Hans Selye’s statement: “Realistic people who pursue practical aims are rarely as realistic or practical, in the long run of life, as the dreamers who pursue their dreams.”

I am drawn to those folks who care, especially for those whose needs are greatest. Caring is the essence of civility and the enemy of indifference.

The Declaration of Independence was right, proper and needed in its time. Now we need a Declaration of Interdependence which recognizes that the survival of this planet rests on the shoulders of all the leaders of all the nations.

Finally, to “Make America Great Again” we need to pursue the twin goals of tolerance and empathy. We need to again reject bigotry, prejudice, racism and hatefulness. I do not believe it is an exaggeration too say that the soul of our nation is at stake. Let us again celebrate cultural diversity, civility, equal justice for all and embrace the moral and spiritual foundations that made this country great — one nation, indivisible and a haven for all of us, not just some of us.